Photosanity Basics

Find joy through photographing your kids using only your smartphone

What if you could stop worrying about how much you have to do?

Find happiness and experience joy no matter how your day is going

I know how hard it is to feel like you have too many things to do and not enough time to do it all.

That pervasive feeling of never doing enough or doing it well enough can be demoralizing – it steals our joy and holds us back from feeling like we can relax, have fun, and enjoy the process of being a parent and the time we have with our kids.

We get so caught up taking care of everyone else that we forget to take care of ourselves.

What is it that we'd really like?

We’d like to be able to spend a little less time feeling stressed out and overwhelmed about everything we aren’t doing, and a little more time being present, connecting with our kids, feeling joy, and recognizing everything we are doing.

We want to feel fulfilled, and that we’re doing a good job.

We want to enjoy the day, not just get through it.

We want to feel like we're not just managing our kids, but that we’re developing a relationship with them that we can feel good about - that we’re connecting with them, nurturing them, and showing them how to be confident, happy, strong, kind, compassionate and curious human beings who can have a positive impact on the world themselves.

The problem is that too often we feel too stressed out and overwhelmed to be able to enjoy the present moment and see everything that we are doing.

And we’re too afraid to slow down because then it means that we’ll fall even more behind and even less will get done.

Now, I know that you’ve probably tried different things to reduce stress and be more joyful because I’ve tried them too!

You’ve tried to limit the number of activities your kids are involved with, or how much you take on at work.

You’ve asked your spouse to do more, and you’ve let go of standards for things such as housework, cooking, and cleaning.

You’ve tried yoga or meditation, and you’re on-again off-again with an exercise routine.

You’ve tried to “count your blessings” or “flip the script” to get out of a rut of negativity.

And some of these things have helped.

But what I’ve found is that there’s another way - and for me, it’s the best and easiest yet most powerful way of slowing down and finding joy in the present moment.

The best way I've found to do this is through photography.

I'm Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick.

I’m a parent with two young boys myself (Liam, 8 and Jack, 5) and I founded Photosanity to help women like you find joy and connection through photographing your kids.

Photography is, quite literally, my lifeline to sanity.

When I’m behind the lens of my camera, whether it’s my DSLR or iPhone, everything else fades away - the to-do list, the worries about the future, the second-guessing over the past, all the thinking - and instead, using my camera, I focus on the present moment and how it feels.

Using my camera, I can tap into not just “happy joy” but the joy of being present to all emotions, and the validation and fulfillment that brings.

And at the end of the day, when I look back through my photos, my photos can shift the narrative and tell me a different story than the one I might tell myself, one that recognizes (and provides tangible proof!) of all that I am doing, and all that I am doing right.

It’s not the way photography is typically taught, or how you might experience photography right now.

But I want you to experience this too!

That’s why I created Photosanity Basics.

Photosanity Basics is a deceptively simple but incredibly powerful course that will help you build the foundation for finding joy through photographing your kids, even if you’re not creative or visual, even if you have no time, even if you’re just using your smartphone, even if you know nothing about photography, even if you’re having the worst day.

You CAN feel more patient, more present, and more connected.You CAN slow down, enjoy the process, and know that you’re doing a good job.You CAN find your voice and develop your perspective within motherhood, so you don’t feel like you’re losing yourself.

The course includes:

SEVEN SELF-GUIDED LESSONS each with a short 1-minute video introduction and a beautiful PDF, optimized for your smartphone, that you can download and read in just a few minutes.

Each lesson has a TIP (actually a foundational concept) that you can apply that day as you go about your normal routines with your kids – all you need is your smartphone camera! (I love the iPhone photos I take of my kids).

The lessons are broken down into FOUR MODULES that you can complete weekly over 4 weeks, but you can complete the course at your own pace – it can even be done in as little as 7 days, or as long as 7 weeks (or more).

Submit one photo for each assignment along with any questions for FEEDBACK via email

From the moment I became a mom over eight years ago, I’ve been using photography as a tool for being present and finding joy through all the chaos of modern day parenting. I’ve experienced this for myself on a daily basis, and I’ve analyzed and broken down exactly how I do it so I can teach it to you too.

I’ve taught these same tools to hundreds of parents who tell me years later that I changed their life, and that they still hear my voice in their head and think of me when they are capturing the moment.

The modules include:

Module 1: Joy through interactions - how would it feel if instead of worrying about how your photos looked, you could use your camera to be more present? And instead of your camera coming between you and your kids and ruining the moment, it brought you closer to them? What if you could see, experience and celebrate your kids as they are right now rather than as you wished they were? This module will give you a few simple tweaks to how you interact with your kids while taking photos so this shift can happen right away.

Module 2: Joy through visual elements - what if you could heighten your awareness of the present moment by observing the visual cues for what brings you emotional enjoyment? And what if this "way of seeing" was something you could tap into whenever you wanted in order to find joy? This module will show you how.

Module 3: Joy through emotions - what if photography were a way of capturing and validating all emotions, not just happy ones? And what if this lead to greater acceptance of our kids, and ourselves? And what if this lead to the greater joy of a life lived fully? The two simple tips in this module will forever change your approach to photographing your kids.

Module 4: Joy through memory - ever wish you could bottle up moments and save them for later? Now you can! The last module will look at exactly how this works through photography.

My teaching superpowers include:

breaking complex things down into simple steps a layperson can understand

using real life examples to make it relatable to your own life

providing practical tips that are easy to apply and integrate

being honest and transparent in sharing my own struggles and lessons

connecting to what it is you most want and how to get there

Photosanity Basics is perfect for you if you’re interested in being present and finding joy through photographing your kids.

Photography is an unconventional and underutilized but surprisingly powerful tool for this.

It’s not about taking better photos… but the amazing thing is that when you follow the Photosanity methodology, and you stop focusing on taking better photos, you end up taking better photos anyway - photos that you love, that take you back to the moment and capture everything you want to remember about this time.

And that’s just a side benefit!

The real benefit is that you can be more present and actually enjoy the life and the family that you have worked so hard to create.

You can stop beating yourself up so much about everything you’re not doing and all the ways you’re failing, and instead treat yourself with gentleness and acceptance and ALSO see all the things that you are doing.

You can find joy every day, no matter what is going on in the world or in your life, even if you’re having the worst day day.

You can do this course in your own time, through beautiful PDFs that break this process down step-by-step. I include real examples from my life that show you what I mean as well as provide motivation and inspiration AND you’ll get feedback on your photos via email, so you have help and support integrating the concepts.

Each lesson gives you one simple but powerful concept to think about as you photograph your kids – this is NOT time-consuming and does NOT require you to have visual or creative talent, skill, knowledge, expertise or special equipment or software.

This course does not require you to make big changes in your life – but the impact can be significant.

Photosanity Basics also provides the unusual opportunity for you to do something for yourself that still benefits your family.

It’s simple, it’s easy, and it will bring you and your family so much joy.

Choose one of the packages below depending on the level of support you would like, and you will get immediate access to the course today!

Testimonials

Thank you SO much for this course. It's been so much fun, reinvigorating and I'm so grateful for the work you put into it. The materials are SO BEAUTIFUL and the quotes and moments you share are so touching. Seriously - who cries when reading an online photo tutorial?! ME! Thanks for all your hard work. What a gift you have and have given!

Heather MaloyPhotosanity parent

Thank you Alethea for your wonderful photo course. I did not imagine at the start that I would gain so much from participating. What a brilliant idea. Thank you for the gift of enjoying family moments and the capturing of them more!

Tamsin BrearePhotosanity parent

Your 7 lessons on photography have been so inspiring to me. I was particularly touched by your thoughts on validating all of our children's emotions, not just happy times, and how documenting sad/angry/anxious moments shows our kids that we understand and love all of them. I read that pdf out loud to a friend and he picked up his iPhone and started snapping too. You're starting a better parenting revolution!

Jill Barshay GiskanPhotosanity parent

Photosanity Basics - Self-Guided

$95USD

Includes modules with a total of seven self-guided lessons in beautiful PDF format

Absolutely. Although Photosanity is particularly geared towards parents with younger children (from newborn to elementary), we have had parents with tweens and teens join us in past workshops, and all of the lessons in this course are applicable.

Yes! Actually, this course is PERFECT for you because it is different from any other photography class out there. It's NOT about creating the perfect photo, but about a different way of approaching photography that focuses on how it feels, not how it looks so that you can be more present and find more joy. And yeah, you'll also take better photos that mean more to you than photos you take to look good to others.

I don't think any mom ever has time to take on anything extra. But I've designed this course specifically for the overwhelmed stressed out parent. The lessons are super simple and digestible in just a few minutes on your smartphone, on your own schedule, whenever you have a minute. There is nothing technical or time consuming to learn. And you can apply the concepts as you photograph your kids during the time that you normally spend with them anyway - in fact, this class will help you get a better experience out of that time that you have with them, and better photos to show for it too.

Ask yourself this - can you afford to continue as you are, or is it worth trying something different?